Social Media Tourism Symposium that Huntsville won through Facebook vote touches down Wednesday in Rocket City

View full sizeThe U.S. Space & Rocket Center is the main image on the Social Media Tourism Symposium Facebook page. The annual conference, which starts Wednesday, is expected to bring more than 250 tech-savvy tourism professionals to Huntsville. (Image courtesy Social Media Tourism Symposium)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - More than 250 tourism experts from across the United States will descend on the Rocket City this week for the annual Social Media Tourism Symposium.

Huntsville won the right to host the event through an online voting competition last spring, beating Indianapolis, Cleveland and Missoula, Mont. The "SoMe" symposium starts Wednesday at The Westin hotel in Bridge Street Town Centre, although some delegates begin arriving today.

While the attendees will pump thousands of dollars into the local economy though hotel rooms, meals out and other purchases, officials say the real value will be having a group tech-savvy tourism experts tweeting, texting and posting pictures about Huntsville for three days.

The conference goes through Friday.

"These influential tourism professionals tweeting, posting and sharing photos of their experience in Huntsville will help spread awareness about our community as the great visitor destination that it is," Judy Ryals, president and CEO of the Huntsville-Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Monday.

According to its Facebook page, the Social Media Tourism Symposium is "the premier conference for tourism professionals looking to share ideas, network and discover opportunities using social media."

Registrations show that Huntsville should attract a larger crowd than last year's "SoMe" conference in El Paso, Texas, which drew about 230 people.